And really, given the usual audience for “how to make comics” books, starting with pictures of women makes sense. The promotional material makes clear that they’re aiming at aspiring creators of action comics (promising “superhero poses”), and many of those are male, so they can use themselves as examples of the other half of humanity.

There are four different models in the book, to capture different ages: 16, 22, 26, and 34. Now, one might point out that this is not an extensive range, given a typical lifespan, but again, consider the audience. They’re likely looking for active, fit young women to act as heroines. Perhaps more of a detriment is that all of these women are roughly the same slender build. Those looking for models with bellies or large breasts need to go elsewhere, but at least those working from these images will give their women enough of a waist to contain internal organs. Certainly, this book is preferable to the current favorite source of photo reference: porn magazines.

As promised, the images are superhero/action-oriented: flying, running, jumping, fighting (with and without weapons and pretend power blasts), posing. There are pictures of different types of outfits (including capes), hair and makeup, expressions, and working with accessories, like gloves or boots. Also included are four art lessons that show sketching from these pictures, one each by Josh Howard, Terry Moore, J.G. Jones (who demonstrates how he created the book’s cover), and Jamal Igle (covering group cover design).

The CD, in addition to containing more than 600 alternate photos, also includes video clips, so the models can be viewed in motion. See sample pages at the author’s website. (A complimentary copy for this review was provided by the author.)